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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The Great War at Sea

The Great War is not called the
first world war for nothing, taking place as it did not only across the sprawling
expanse of Eurasia and Africa, but in the skies above and in the great oceans
girding the continents. The Great War at
Sea is a narrative history of the
naval war between the United Kingdom, Germany, and to a lesser extent the
United States.Written in 1965, it’s a
work definitely keyed toward popular audiences; though the author mentions
sinking and shipping statistics, he focuses on blow-by-blow retellings of ship
battles for which there exists plenty of record, relying on both British and
German accounts. The narrative which knits these battle-tales together will
render a general understanding of how the naval war unfolded, including the stresses placed on the British
and German economies by their attempted blockades. The heavy use of dialogue and lively storytelling
make it a quick read, most suitable for
a lay audience who don’t want to sink too deeply into details. The maps and
illustrations included, however, are superb and would complement even more
scholarly works; the battle diagrams are even artful. As might be expected from a work produced in
1965, The Great War at Sea has a
patriotic spirit, though the incorporation of German accounts removes bias. He takes the attitude that both English and
German sailors did their bit for king and country, dying noble deaths deserving
of praise. It's a 'nice' history, but on the light side.